Losing streak stopped at seven

PHILADELPHIA — There’s never a shortage of words when it comes to Evan Turner.

Before Saturday’s game, a Wilt Chamberlain bobblehead night, Turner joked about eclipsing the century mark like the legendary center. And after a fourth-quarter bucket, Turner was chirping some more.

He looked over his shoulder as he ran up the floor and said something directed at an official. He wanted a call and didn’t get it. Maybe, with a little arm-twisting, Turner would settle for a skid-busting victory and a near-triple-double.

“I’ll take it,” Turner said afterward, grinning.

The ever-streaky wing, Turner pieced together an impressive performance — capping it with a solid fourth quarter — to get the Sixers past the Golden State Warriors, 104-97, Saturday night.

Like that, the Sixers’ season-worst seven-game losing streak was over. And all it took to seal it was Turner’s strong showing … and overcoming a 16-point deficit … and a jumper from Jrue Holiday with 41.9 seconds to go … and a Thad Young blocked shot at the other end to snuff the Warriors entirely.

Turner finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. He knew he was close to the first triple-double of his career, though forcing the issue in a tight game wasn’t an option.

Still, Turner’s game left Holiday satisfied.

“I know Evan has it in him. I know what Evan can do. I know everybody here knows what Evan can do,” Holiday said. “When he plays like that, that’s the ET that’s the No. 2 pick.”

Down the stretch, the game belonged to Turner. He book-ended a pair of nifty fourth-quarter assists with jumpers from the right elbow, giving the Sixers (23-34) the lead for good.

One of those helper from Turner was to Holiday, who pump-faked Golden State’s Stephen Curry out of his sneakers, held up for a moment, and then made a corner 3-pointer. On the next trip, Turner hauled in Holiday’s miss, took one dribble, then shoved the ball into Young’s midsection for an easy layup. That gave the Sixers a 98-94 lead.

Not to be outdone by himself, Turner — alone at the top of the key with Golden State’s Klay Thompson — crossed over the guard and knocked down a 16-footer.

It was Turner’s fourth quarter and everybody else was simply playing in it.

“He was in a great rhythm and, as I’ve said before, sometimes he gets himself going too much and I don’t think he did that tonight,” Sixers coach Doug Collins said of Turner. “I thought we got him the ball in better spots, which I think helped him.

“I thought tonight was one of the most-efficient games I’ve ever seen Evan Turner play. He did not fight the game in any way. … He made some huge plays for us to give us some separation.”

It was a night of strong individual box scores for the Sixers. Spot-starter Royal Ivey went 6-for-6 from the floor for 17 points. Holiday had 27 points, seven assists and five boards. Young had 14 points and a career-best 16 rebounds.

Still, the Sixers had to contend with Curry, one of the NBA’s top shooters of late. For a sampling of Curry’s hot hand, just take a second-quarter bucket. Driving the lane, he faked right and went in for a layup, but not just any layup. Only Curry could pull off the teardrop finger-roll layup, with the ball reaching its apex just above the backboard.

“Just a great player,” Turner said of Curry.

That counted for two of Curry’s 23 in the first half, putting Golden State ahead, 49-33. From there, the Sixers closed out the half with an 18-5 run in the final 4:33 to pull within three, at 54-51.

All good things must come to an end, however. That goes for Curry’s scoring touch, and the Sixers’ spurts in both the second and third quarters. Even still, the Sixers kept it close. The reason? They held down Curry for seven points the rest of the way with spot-starter Royal Ivey, and fed off Turner’s scoring spree.

The game remained a one-possession affair until the final four minutes of the fourth, when Turner flipped a switch internally.

He doled out that pair of impressive assists, hit a baseline jumper with 2:35 to go put the Sixers ahead by four, then crossed up Thompson to push back the Warriors even further.

Said Turner: “I always feel like that. When shots are going in and out, it’s hard. But as a pro, you always think the next shot is going in. That’s why I want to be out there and being aggressive.”

That kind of night for Turner … and it’s what the Sixers needed to end their skid.